Yun Che didn’t look back, continuing to walk through the market with an air of indifference.
He visited several stalls, buying basic materials for drawing talismans—vermilion, talisman paper, and low-level beast blood. He also spent two low-grade spirit stones on a book titled Illustrated Guide to Common Spirit Herbs in the Northern Region, pretending to be interested in herbs and flipping through it for quite a while.
Throughout his time in the market, the same few sets of eyes followed him like shadows.
There were three of them—one at the 6th layer of Qi Condensation and two at the 5th layer. They were scattered around the crowd, appearing unconnected, but subtly forming a trap around him.
Yun Che inwardly sneered. Back when he was in the Azure Frost Sect, he might have been wary, but now... With his perfected pseudo-circle in the Virtual Light Realm, enhanced by his superior spiritual sense and battle experience, these three were not a threat.
However, the market was crowded with many eyes, and it wasn’t wise to act recklessly.
After completing his purchases, he slowly made his way out of the market.
By this time, the sky had darkened, and small lights had started to flicker in the market. The gray mist thickened, reducing visibility to less than ten paces.
Yun Che stepped out of the market and onto the barren wasteland beyond. The cold wind howled, kicking up snowflakes from the ground.
After walking for about three miles, he heard faint footsteps in the snow behind him.
He stopped, turned around.
Three figures emerged from the mist, surrounding him in a triangular formation. The leader was a one-eyed man with a vicious scar on his face and cultivation at the 6th layer of Qi Condensation. The other two were of average height, their eyes filled with hostility.
"Kid, hand over your spirit stones and that Red Yang Grass," the one-eyed man grinned, exposing yellowed teeth. "If you're nice, I'll let you live."
Yun Che scanned the three men and replied calmly, "You've followed me this far. It must have been tiring."
The one-eyed man froze for a moment, then sneered. "You know and still dare to walk into the wilderness? Looks like you’re tired of living!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the short man suddenly attacked! A dark light shot from his sleeve straight toward Yun Che’s face—a poisoned dart!
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Yun Che remained unmoving, his right hand swiping through the air.
Micro-Attraction Technique.
The dart veered off course and missed, embedding itself in the snow behind him.
The short man was taken aback.
The tall man reacted quickly, forming a hand seal, causing the snow beneath Yun Che's feet to rise and form two massive ice claws, aiming to grab his legs!
At the same time, the one-eyed man shouted and summoned a large ghostly sword, its black aura swirling as it slashed down from the sky. The wind from the blade was piercing, clearly soaked with blood.
Yun Che’s eyes flashed with cold light.
He stepped lightly with his left foot, moving three feet to the left, avoiding the ice claws. With a flick of his right hand, his finger formed a sword-like shape, and a condensed icy wind shot forward, directly hitting the tall man’s chest!
"Poof!"
The wind pierced through the tall man’s protective spiritual light. The light flickered violently and shattered with a bang! The cultivator let out a grunt and staggered back, his chest torn open, and his skin blackened.
The one-eyed man’s ghostly sword was already above Yun Che’s head.
Yun Che didn’t retreat but advanced. He side-stepped to avoid the blade, and his left hand shot out like lightning, grabbing the back of the sword!
The one-eyed man was startled and frantically poured his spiritual energy into the sword, causing its black aura to surge in an attempt to shake off Yun Che’s grip.
But Yun Che’s fingers tightened like iron pincers, not budging. With the flow of Virtual Light energy in his body, his fingers suddenly exerted force!
Crack!
The ghostly sword, forged from fine iron, was squeezed out of five distinct finger marks! The aura dissipated, and the black energy reversed.
The one-eyed man let out a muffled groan and spat out blood. His spiritual weapon was damaged, and the connection to his mind caused internal injury.
The short man, seeing the situation, immediately turned to flee.
Yun Che didn’t even glance at him. He reached out with his right hand.
Come back.
An invisible force pulled the short man back, and he crashed to the ground in the snow.
In just three breaths, all three were defeated.
The one-eyed man, terrified, stammered, "P-please spare my life! I... I was blind..."
Yun Che released the sword’s hilt and said lightly, "Spirit stones."
The one-eyed man hurriedly pulled out his storage bag, offering it with both hands. The other two followed suit.
Yun Che scanned the storage bags. They contained over fifty low-grade spirit stones, two medium-grade spirit stones, and some low-level pills and materials. It wasn’t much but enough for now.
He took the storage bags and said, "Scram. If I see you again, you’re dead."
The three men, as if pardoned, scrambled away, not even daring to pick up the damaged ghostly sword.
Yun Che stood still and waited until they disappeared into the mist before letting out a slow breath.
This was his first time fighting for his life—though the opponents were weak. The sensation of spiritual energy clashing, being on the line of life and death, was different from fighting beasts.
"Decisive enough," Li Han commented. "But you talked too much. Next time, just kill them and save yourself the trouble."
Yun Che didn’t retort. He had indeed held back—while the three men had bad intentions, their crimes didn’t warrant death. He crippled most of their cultivation and took their possessions as punishment.
He looked up at the sky, identified the direction, and made his way back to Cold Mountain Town.
What do you think of Yun Che’s battle with the three men?
Do you think he made the right decision not to kill them immediately?
